Footsteps
by ShipperForLife11
Summary: Rmpelstiltskin hasn't been around the castle lately, and Belle begins to wonder what he's up to.  Is he doing something he shouldn't be?  The world may never know...  Or maybe it will.  Post curse Fairy Tale world!  And obviously there's Rumbelle fluff.


A/N: Hey peoples! I'm trying my hand writing Once Upon a Time fanfiction now…. It's come a lot more easily than the other fanfictions I've written…. Anywho. I hope ya'll like it! So yeah. I'm an obsessed Rumbelle shipper, so this is obviously what this is. Don't let the name deceive you! This is a fic about Rumpel proposing to Belle. So enjoy! Read and review please! :D

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Belle sighed contentedly as she settled into Rumpelstiltskin's comfiest arm chair and began to read a book she had found sitting on the desk in his study.

She knew he wouldn't be too happy with her because she wasn't supposed to be in his chair, but she didn't care. It was just for a little while, and he would never know because he was gone for the day.

Sometimes it really bothered her that he was always out and about. It felt as though he was never around to talk to, and considering she was stuck here, she got lonely when he wasn't around. Sometimes she wondered what he was doing, hoping that he wasn't with someone else. But he was gone so often that she just didn't know for sure if he was out for business or personal reasons.

She would always wait for him, though. There was no way she could stand to be apart from her true love for longer than she needed to.

So she waited. Ever since the curse was broken, everything had changed. Rumpelstiltskin no longer cared about losing his magic (even though he ended up finding a source of good magic, which he used instead of the dark stuff which made him so evil...) and he vowed never to cast Belle away again.

Belle was the happiest girl in the whole world when he told her that he wouldn't cast her out again. A person can only go through with an experience like that once without completely losing it, and Belle didn't want to go completely crazy.

Again, her thoughts strayed to Rumpelstiltskin... He had been going to far away places on a regular basis, and she longed to simply talk to him for a few hours.

She imagined him sitting across from her, legs crossed and arms across his chest, a smirk covering his handsome face... And it was while daydreaming about her love that she drifted into a deep sleep.

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Rumpelstiltskin walked silently across the foyer of his great estate. He was tired, after another long day full of making deals with people who were not exactly pleasant.

He sighed and headed to his study. He sometimes wondered what the point of doing things 'the right way' was. He was so used to doing things with dark magic, and it was so much easier.

He shook his head as he opened the door to his study. He was fairly surprised to find Belle sitting in his study, asleep. He did tell her to stay out of this room... Didn't he?

He quickly dismissed his doubt. It didn't really matter that she was in here, anyway. Although, he could tease her about this in the future.

He felt himself grin. There was nothing he loved more than teasing Belle... His Belle. He often wondered how he could have been so lucky to have her fall in love with him. It was simply non sensical, and he sometimes thought her insane for sticking around. Yet he was happy for that small bit of insanity. In fact, he couldn't be happier.

He looked over at her again. He could feel his features soften as he looked at her. He never thought he would fall in love again, yet here he was. More in love than he was with his first wife. Of course, he and Belle weren't married...yet.

And that's why he'd been making all those pathetic deals. To find the ring that belonged to his first wife. It was his mother's ring, and it was special to him. He wouldn't want anyone other than Belle to have it.

However, finding the ring was the problem. Rumpelstiltskin groaned internally at the memory. He didn't want to think about this now.

So he quietly walked over to Belle, kissed her forehead, and then walked upstairs to his suite. As much as he hated to admit it, locating his ring had been an exhausting experience, and he needed a long rest.

He laid himself down on his large, navy blue bed, and drifted into the world of dreams...

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Belle awoke suddenly with a gasp. He was here. She knew he was here. She heard the sound of his light footsteps echoing throughout the castle.

She listened closely to the sound, and smiled. But when the sound disappeared, a deep frown graced her features. Where could he have possibly gone?

She donned her shoes, and as quietly as possible, she looked for him around the estate. After she had checked nearly every room in the large building, she groaned in frustration.

Why was it that he always disappeared when she wanted to see him? Did he not love her anymore?

No, she told herself. I can't think like this anymore. Of course he loves me... Right?

She huffed impatiently. She really couldn't live like this anymore. She was going to find him and go to a place where he couldn't possibly not talk to her.

She knew of one more place where he could be. She knew that she definitely shouldn't be looking there, but she was going to anyway.

When she reached Rumpelstiltskin's room, she pushed open the doors in anger, and found him sleeping silently in a sea of blue fabric.

She felt her anger slowly fade away even though she desperately wanted to stay angry at him. Forget this angry business, she thought. She couldn't help but love the man, no matter how hard she tried not to.

But why was he avoiding her? Her fears slowly crept back into her mind, and gnawed their way into her thoughts. He hadn't fallen in love with someone else, had he?

Belle chewed on her lower lip as she watched him sleep, completely at peace. She didn't have the heart to wake him up, even though her mind was full of questions for him. She could only wait until he woke up. But what if she fell asleep herself?

She sighed and slowly walked toward him. He wouldn't be happy when he woke up, her being in his room, sleeping next to him, but she couldn't think of another way to get his attention. She crawled over the beautiful navy blankets and sheets, and snuggled up against him. Just for good measure, she carefully took his arm and placed it on her shoulder.

"You asked for this, Rumpelstiltskin..." Belle whispered. "Don't forget that..." And with those words lingering on her lips, she drifted back to sleep.

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Rumpelstiltskin inhaled slowly as he woke up. He was about to stretch, but then paused. It was pitch black in the room, but something was off.

He sniffed again cautiously. Something smelled...sweet. Like honey, but sweeter than that. He recognized the smell, but he couldn't identify it because he was still partially asleep.

He blinked twice. He could have sworn he saw the outline of a figure next to him. But that couldn't be... Unless...

Rumpelstiltskin moved his thumb to see what it was on. When he felt a shoulder that was not his own, he cursed silently. What was Belle doing here?

In any other situation, he might have not minded. But he had the ring stored in this room, and he did not want her to see it until he was ready to show her. How was he supposed to know that Belle hadn't gone snooping around and found it? She always was very curious... 'Sometimes a little too curious,' he thought to himself.

But really. He couldn't think of why she was here. In his arms. (He couldn't say he was unhappy about that last part, though. He very much wanted to spend every day waking up next to his beautiful Belle, and he planned on doing so. Just not yet.)

The only explanation he could come up with was that Belle wanted to talk to him... About something. He just hoped it wasn't something important... He much preferred having simple conversations with Belle. Talking about feelings and such was not his specialty.

Because he wasn't tired, he decided to lie awake in his bed, watching his Belle until she arose.

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As the sun streamed through the light blue, transparent curtains, Belle slowly opened her eyes. She could feel Rumpelstiltskin's hand still around her, slowly tracing invisible circles on her arm.

She knew he wasn't happy with her, and she nearly winced. What was she thinking? Sleeping next to him?

But then she remembered all her doubts about their relationship and frowned. She did do the right thing. She needed to talk to him, and here he was.

Regardless, to ease his anger, she turned around to face him, and batted her eyelashes. Rumpelstiltskin raised an eyebrow and smirked, but remained silent.

Belle stared into his dark eyes, and finally spoke. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Hi," Rumpelstiltskin responded, looking amused. They remained silent, staring into the other's eyes for a while. When Rumpelstiltskin saw that Belle wasn't going to talk again, he sighed. "Is there a reason why you're here, dearie?" he asked.

Belle slowly nodded. "I needed to talk to you, and I couldn't think of another way of getting your attention. You've been away so much recently, and I never get to see you anymore. I figured I might as well take a chance and get to talk to you before you disappear again," she said gently.

Rumpelstiltskin cocked an eyebrow. "Is that was this is about?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well... It's a part of it. I can stand being alone, you know. It is lonely in this big house all day when you're not here, but I manage fine. One thing I can't manage is where you go all day. And more importantly, why you go." Belle said sadly.

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her questioningly. What was she implying by saying this. He opened his mouth to speak, but Belle put a finger to his lips.

"Let me finish. I feel as though you've been avoiding me lately. And I know you said you wouldn't throw me out again, but I don't feel wanted by you. I know I'm not the best cook, and I know I'm too curious at times, and I know I'm not very good at cleaning things either, but I thought you were going to overlook all that. You haven't been around, and I can't help but wonder if you're with someone else." A tear fell down her cheek. "If you want me to leave, then just tell me so now, because I don't want to get hurt again," Belle choked as tears streamed down her cheeks.

She squeezed her eyes closed and leaned against Rumpelstiltskin and started to sob. Oh, this wasn't going well for her at all...

"Please don't leave me," she whispered into his chest. She could feel his strong arms wrap around her. He stroked her hair as she sobbed, and whispered her name over and over again until she stopped crying.

When she couldn't cry another tear, Rumpelstiltskin put his hand gently on her face and stroked her tears away, while smiling slightly.

"You should have told me this before, dearie. I could have stayed more often if that's what you wished. I suppose I understand where your accusations are coming from, but I will never cast you out again," he said fervently. "Nor," he continued, "will I ever fall in love with anyone but you. I love your cooking, cleaning and your personality. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've missed you these past few days also, but you probably don't believe me. I've not been with someone else, and I have and will never want you to leave me again. I don't know what brought all this on, but be assured that I love you more than you'll ever know," he said, his lips centimeters away from hers.

Belle felt another tear slip down her cheek as she closed the distance between their two mouths as they were still lying on his bed.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as he deepened the kiss.

She could smell his musky scent as they kissed, and she sighed in contentment.

Pulling back ever so slightly, she whispered, "I love you, Rumpelstiltskin," her lips brushing up against his as she said it.

"And I you," he said in response, closing the distance between their lips again.

This time, Belle attempted to deepen the kiss, but before she could, he pulled back. Belle pouted. "What was that for?" she asked him.

Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. "What can I say? I like torturing you," he said, shrugging.

Belle giggled and lightly slapped his arm. "And I love torturing you," she said, smiling. "But really. Why did you stop?"

"Because I have something for you."

Belle sent him a quizzical look. "Like a present?" she asked.

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged. "You could say that," he said as he pulled something out of thin air that Belle couldn't quite see.

"How did you do that?" Belle asked.

"I still have some magic, dearie. Which is why I've been away so much recently," he said with a grin.

"You've been away because of magic?" Belle asked.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "I've been away using magic. See, I lost something that was mine and I wanted you to have it. The only way to get it back was by magic," he said quietly.

He sat up and got off of the bed, and knelt. Belle gasped as he took her hand. He wasn't going to... He couldn't...

But he did. "Belle, as I'm sure you know by now, everything about my life revolves around you. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you, and I can't imagine spending one day without you in my life. I admire you in every respect, and I want you to be in my life forever. That being said, will you, dearest, loveliest Belle, do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked while holding out the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was encrusted with diamonds and sapphires, and there was a small strand of gold wrapped around the band, circling all of the gems.

Belle felt tears come to her eyes. She looked deep into his eyes, and smiled as she moved across the bed and sat down next to him. She took his face in her hands, and gently kissed his lips, similarly to how she had kissed him when they had first met.

As she drew away from him, she smiled brightly and her face glowed. "Of course I'll marry you, Rumpelstiltskin. I couldn't imagine marrying anyone else..." she trailed off as he slipped the gorgeous ring on her finger.

He kissed each of her fingers and then said, "I love you, Belle."

"And I you," Belle responded, leaning down to kiss him again.

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Well readers? Did ya like it? I can always write more…. But I don't know! Let me know whatcha think! Reviews are lurv. :3


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